I was invited to attend the Foodies Festival in Blackheath over the weekend but we had so much going on in and around Uckfield on Saturday and Sunday that I could only make it on the Friday. I drove the twins there on Thursday evening and we had a lovely al fresco dinner with Ma in her beautiful garden and a nice lazy (if a bit too early) morning eating plums from the tree before we all headed out to the Festival.
It was ridiculously hot so we were already sweating from the walk over there when we arrived but we soon cooled off with some lovely chilled desserts from Bonne Maman almost as soon as we entered! The salted caramel was my favourite, rich but so good and the twins loved their choice of chocolate mousse!
After a short wander around just a small portion of the food stalls, we had to find some shade and get the twins lunch. I was glad to find the big shaded gazebo in the centre with lots of long tables and benches. We'd gone past a calamari stall and I know they love calamari so I bought a cone for £5 and then got some delicious smelling garlic fries for £3.50 from another stall by the shaded tables. They barely touched the calamari but the fries went down well!
Ma opted for spicy prawns in a bun for £7 with some tri-coloured chips for £3. I decided to get some Indian street food as we've been disappointed by all of our local Indian restaurants in Uckfield so being in London thought I'd be onto a winner, especially following the amazing curry I had recently at JOY Festival. Sadly not. Mine was very greasy and not at all tasty. Ma's was nice but overpriced (as is often the way for food at festivals I find) as she had a huge bun but not many prawns. The calamari was delicious though so I ate what the kids left and shared their fries. I wish we'd seen the dim sum sooner, I bet it would have been much tastier and better value at 6 pieces for £5!
Once fed and watered we had more of a wander around and I was drawn to the beautiful display by Freddie's Flowers, these rose lilies are gorgeous! I signed up with a referral code from Ma which means she'll get a free box and my first box is free too! If you fancy trying them out, I also have a code you can use to get your first box free (and another free one for me!) - just use this link - www.freddiesflowers.com/r/BexM4192. I'll be blogging about them after they arrive this Friday to let you know what I think!
Priya was asking for "Paint Face" after seeing another little girl with her face painted so we made our way over to the kids' corner. She turned all shy and was insisting "Mummy do it" and "Darry first" but eventually sat on Ma's lap and allowed the Glitterati girl to paint her design in her chosen colour orange. I loved the expressions she was making.
Kalyan initially didn't want his done until he saw Priya's and then asked for his turn. He didn't enjoy it as much though so was only in the chair for a very short time for his unfinished firework to match his top. It was pretty expensive (especially as I still had to pay full price for Kalyan's) at £10 but I got some nice photos out of it at least since it did melt off pretty quickly in the heat!
They soon ran off to explore the rest of the kids' corner, heading straight for the bouncy castles and trampolines. At £1.50 each for just 5 mins on a miniature bouncy castle and in the full glaring sun, I refused to let them go on (since we also have a trampoline at home) but we managed to calm the tantrums by taking them into the shaded (and free) tent with a few toys, chalk crayons and books to entertain them.
I thought this would be a good chance for me to see some of the goings on in the chef's theatres (the children's cookery one was sadly not on Friday) but K insisted on coming with me and dragging me off as soon as I got chatting to a chef whose name now escapes me as I was being harassed by a toddler, but I did get a snap of his creation.
Ma then took the twins for a stroll in the buggy while I explored a few more stalls, sampled some tasters and took some more photos before we gave in to the heat and headed home.
When I found Ma and the twins again, she was treating them to a spectacle of Liquid Nitrogen Ice-Cream by Whipsmiths. Made in front of your eyes from cream and various other ingredient options, including fresh fruit, it's quickly churned with liquid nitrogen freezing it into a smooth ice-cream. The twins loved watching the smoke and wolfed down their chocolate strawberry concoction!
All in all we had a good afternoon despite the sweltering heat and enjoyed a few tasty treats despite our lunch disappointments. My highlight was definitely the discovery of Caws Cenarth's "Golden Cenarth" cheese, a soft brie-like cheese which is hand washed in Cider and Oh. So. Yummy! We enjoyed it in the garden with sourdough toast on Sunday. The mature cheddar with leeks was also delicious but the Perl Wen needs to ripen a bit more, I will report back! I've also since discovered that I can stock up again online! Let me know if you want to spit a delivery with me, there's a minimum order and I might get in trouble if I buy 4 more cheeses!
It was ridiculously hot so we were already sweating from the walk over there when we arrived but we soon cooled off with some lovely chilled desserts from Bonne Maman almost as soon as we entered! The salted caramel was my favourite, rich but so good and the twins loved their choice of chocolate mousse!
After a short wander around just a small portion of the food stalls, we had to find some shade and get the twins lunch. I was glad to find the big shaded gazebo in the centre with lots of long tables and benches. We'd gone past a calamari stall and I know they love calamari so I bought a cone for £5 and then got some delicious smelling garlic fries for £3.50 from another stall by the shaded tables. They barely touched the calamari but the fries went down well!
Ma opted for spicy prawns in a bun for £7 with some tri-coloured chips for £3. I decided to get some Indian street food as we've been disappointed by all of our local Indian restaurants in Uckfield so being in London thought I'd be onto a winner, especially following the amazing curry I had recently at JOY Festival. Sadly not. Mine was very greasy and not at all tasty. Ma's was nice but overpriced (as is often the way for food at festivals I find) as she had a huge bun but not many prawns. The calamari was delicious though so I ate what the kids left and shared their fries. I wish we'd seen the dim sum sooner, I bet it would have been much tastier and better value at 6 pieces for £5!
 |
| Serious face - she did love it, honest! |
Kalyan initially didn't want his done until he saw Priya's and then asked for his turn. He didn't enjoy it as much though so was only in the chair for a very short time for his unfinished firework to match his top. It was pretty expensive (especially as I still had to pay full price for Kalyan's) at £10 but I got some nice photos out of it at least since it did melt off pretty quickly in the heat!
 |
| Kalyan mastering the smoulder. |
They soon ran off to explore the rest of the kids' corner, heading straight for the bouncy castles and trampolines. At £1.50 each for just 5 mins on a miniature bouncy castle and in the full glaring sun, I refused to let them go on (since we also have a trampoline at home) but we managed to calm the tantrums by taking them into the shaded (and free) tent with a few toys, chalk crayons and books to entertain them.
I thought this would be a good chance for me to see some of the goings on in the chef's theatres (the children's cookery one was sadly not on Friday) but K insisted on coming with me and dragging me off as soon as I got chatting to a chef whose name now escapes me as I was being harassed by a toddler, but I did get a snap of his creation.
Ma then took the twins for a stroll in the buggy while I explored a few more stalls, sampled some tasters and took some more photos before we gave in to the heat and headed home.
 |
| Delicious elderflower lemonade from Hullabaloos |
 |
| Clockwise from top left: I loved the Beetroot Ketchup by The Foraging Fox, the amazing cheese from Caws Cenarth (I purchased 3), the Vita Coco milk and The Snaffling Pig pork scratchings in many flavours. |
Had I not been driving home later on, I would have sampled one of the Bathtub Gin cocktails, we've bought this gin as a gift before as it's produced locally in Tunbridge Wells but I'm yet to sample it myself!
When I found Ma and the twins again, she was treating them to a spectacle of Liquid Nitrogen Ice-Cream by Whipsmiths. Made in front of your eyes from cream and various other ingredient options, including fresh fruit, it's quickly churned with liquid nitrogen freezing it into a smooth ice-cream. The twins loved watching the smoke and wolfed down their chocolate strawberry concoction!
All in all we had a good afternoon despite the sweltering heat and enjoyed a few tasty treats despite our lunch disappointments. My highlight was definitely the discovery of Caws Cenarth's "Golden Cenarth" cheese, a soft brie-like cheese which is hand washed in Cider and Oh. So. Yummy! We enjoyed it in the garden with sourdough toast on Sunday. The mature cheddar with leeks was also delicious but the Perl Wen needs to ripen a bit more, I will report back! I've also since discovered that I can stock up again online! Let me know if you want to spit a delivery with me, there's a minimum order and I might get in trouble if I buy 4 more cheeses!
No comments:
Post a Comment